Hi Folks, just got my hands on 20 reprints of early Hot Rod articles,
including especially their Bonneville reports '53 through '63, and I
gotta tell you these are GREAT to read again. A friend with a computer
helped me access them since WebTV hasn't got the capability. Requires
the use of Adobe Acrobat software.
When I was a teen I read these the first time and those were great days
for Hot Rod Magazine. Every year many pages were devoted to the latest
Bonneville meet, with writers Ray Brock, Don Francisco, Racer Brown, and
Bob Greene writing with excitement, enthusiasm and passion that 'bout
jumps off the page!!
Tremendous and increasing performances were being achieved at Bonneville
in those years and one might say that this was a period of high art in
hot-rodding. But best of all, this very same spirit lives on today in
the speed trials community at ECTA, Bonneville and El Mirage among the
good people I've had the privilege to meet. And among today's
journalists, Dave Frieburger of HR & R/C still has the same gift as
those of yore cited above.
In the '53-'63 period, lots of people were trying to learn to run the
iron Dodge-Desoto-Chrysler Hemis with blowers and nitro, and many were
blown up, some teams would bring two or three engines out to the Flats,
and scatter them all before they went home. I can imagine the iron-head
hemis were red or white-hot around the plugs and exhaust valves on the
Short or Long Course when blown and nitroed in those days, which makes
ignition timing meaningless, the engine is running on detonation just
like a diesel. So little wonder if it grenades.
In today's hot rod movement, street rods are the biggest part of it, and
in the California towns I've seen plenty of white-haired fellas like
myself putting around in them, or on $20K Harleys. More power to them,
and it's an achievement to put a street rod together that is refined and
manageable enough for practical transportation. But I see now that
Speed Trials is on another plane, in another world of challenge and
interest. There you stick your neck out a little, and you find out if
you have what it takes to "stand on it" clear through the lights. And
in getting acquainted with a lot of you, I recognize that the average
racer, when he gets his equipment up to the starting line, would rather
die than NOT stand on it clear through the timing lights. He or she
gets "in the zone", and "in a better place", or "on cloud nine", or
somethin' like that. Everything else goes away and the driver/rider
thinks of nothing else but making the run the BEST it can be.
So if you care to, get ahold of some of these reprints at
HotRodArchives.com. Only $1.99 per article, regardless of length, buy
four, get one free! Such a deal! Cheers, Ardun Bill
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